


The March Collection

by Sokorra



Series: 2019 Prompt Collection [2]
Category: Andromeda (TV), Doctor Who (2005), Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, Riverdale (TV 2017), Smash (TV), Star Trek: Enterprise, The West Wing, Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Pick a Fandom, Some Spoilers, some assumptions on stuff I've heard but haven't seen yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2020-01-13 12:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 7,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18469093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sokorra/pseuds/Sokorra
Summary: A collection of drabbles and one-shots that were developed from prompts given for March in the 2009 Lyric prompt series.   Multi-fandom, and Multi-ship.  Chapter titles will express the Fandom and/if any ships that may be focused on.  This will be updated as prompts are completed.





	1. March 1 - The West Wing (Jed Bartlet)

So raise your white flags up   
And let surrender eclipse the sun   
Will we never learn?   
We're pointing the finger that's pulling the trigger   
And in case you haven't heard   
We're all to blame for the wounded world   
- **As It Is “The Wounded World”**

 

Jed sat slowly into his chair, tired to his bones.  It had been a long day, and looked to be an even longer night.  He could hear the distant sounds of his staff doing their various jobs.  They would all be pulling in the long hours tonight.

 

No one quite understood the demands of being President without actually being President.  He certainly hadn’t figured on all the behind the scenes decisions he would have to make, some of which would be life or death for people.  He couldn’t second guess himself, and often didn’t have the time to do so even if he could.

 

He had taken the job to make things better.  Yet here he stood after yet another setback, another day where the world showed its dark side and he wondered if he was helping at all.  Was he making it better? Or just adding to the problem?

 

“Mr. President...”  He looked over as a member of his staff walked into the room, mentally shifting into alert mode.  He didn’t have time to wonder.

 

Not tonight.


	2. March 2 - Gossip Girl (Chuck Bass - Post Series)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck Bass goes into the office for the first time after the series finale.

Yesterday, when you were young  
Everything you needed done was done for you.  
Now you do it on your own  
But you find you're all alone  
What can you do?  
You and me walk on, walk on, walk on  
Cause you can't go back now  
- **The Weepies “Can’t Go Back Now”**  


It felt a bit surreal being back in this office.  It had been close to a year since he last stepped into it. It looked completely different of course.  The differences between him and his father were always apparent when it came to style and designing their office.  Lily had been here already, cleaning it out as a proper widow, and acting as CEO till the paperwork could go through to reinstate him.  After his death, alot of what he had kept hidden had come to light. Although the board was reluctant to trust Chuck again - especially after how suspiciously he seemed involved with Bart’s death - it seemed the better option to save face on how they had thrown him out on Bart’s whim.

 

He hadn’t wanted this job at first, but he had grown to love it.  He had grown up in this office, going from the angry teen he had been when he first got it to being a grown man settled in who he was.  Bart’s intervention had left him doubting himself once again, and if he hadn’t been for his friends, his step-family and his wife he probably would have let Bart win in that regard.

 

There was no Bart now.  And the board wasn’t going to reinstate Jack (who suspiciously hadn’t seemed upset about that) so it was all left him to decide how to go forward.  Did he continue in Bart’s shadow, or did he pave a new way for himself, for this company. Bart was gone, truly gone.

 

He had often asked himself what Bart would do, when they all thought he was dead earlier.  Now he wondered if maybe the better question wasn’t what Bart would do, but what was it really worth to follow in his footsteps.

 

Chuck placed his padfolio on the desk and sat in the chair, looking over the office.  He was on his own, now, and there was something pretty thrilling about that for once.


	3. March 3 - West Wing (Jed Bartlet)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jed and false religious people

_ But there's no way that there's weight in the words that you preach, _ _   
_ _ When you're claiming your faith and you contradict your speech. _ _   
_ _ So I sit here and listen to your tongue and cheek, _ _   
_ __ I know that when you sit and pray you're only praying for keeps.   
- **PVRIS “Holy”**

Jed had always found those who liked to use God as an excuse for their terrible behavior to be the most annoying of those he worked with.  As a politician he was often asked about his views, but he found that some of his colleagues were less followers and more users.

Such was the case tonight, as he sat reviewing papers and debriefings while watching interviews on a late night politics show.  One of the senators was exclaiming that God wanted this country to right its path. How the administration needed to be voted out due to their adulterous ways.

He knew for a fact that Senator had a mistress, she worked with Abby from time to time on a few fundraisers.  So much for the right path. He was also pretty much against any social reform that would help people. Personally Jed was also annoyed at being lumped into his Vice President’s folly.

He could deal with people who honestly had different views, different beliefs.  It was what America was about. But he absolutely detested those who used those beliefs as an excuse to be horrible, or to cover up their own sins.


	4. March 4 - Pick A Fandom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He felt broken and drained (Pick a Fandom)

_ What more do you expect from me? _ __  
_ There's nothing left here to burn _ __  
_ And I've given you every part of me _ __  
__ There's nothing left here to burn   
- **Lovers and Liars “Nothing Left Here To Burn”**

He felt drained and broken.  He had fought for them for so long, fought for that happy ending and it seemed he had finally hit a brick wall.  He finally was coming to terms that the happy ending he imagined was never going to happen.

She loved him, but not enough to fix things.  Not like he loved her. And he knew from their own personal story that being in love so unequally just brought destruction.  Mostly to him. He couldn’t do it anymore. He was just too tired.

He walked slowly out of the room, resisting the urge to look back, to see her happy without him.  Or worse yet, unhappy but still unwilling to try.

He had to move on before there was nothing left of him at all.


	5. March 5 - Gilmore Girls (Rory/Logan)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He lost that fight. (Will be Extended)

  1. If I could find the years that went away  
Destroying all the cruelty of fate  
I must believe that love could find a way  
Tonight  
- **Trading Yesterday “One Day”**



He sat at the bar, a glass of scotch in his hand.  He wasn’t really that big of a fan of scotch, but it seemed the drink to have when you were in the mood. He was in the middle of an Airport, his life in disarray, and frankly he had run out of fucks to give.

 

His father had decided a week prior that it was time that Logan came home to the states and started learning the ropes of being CEO.  Logan had resisted at first, having settled in London. He felt comfortable there, and he was also unlikely to run into people he didn’t want to run into right now.

 

In New York?  He most definitely would.  

  
Either way he had lost that fight,  and then a later one with his fiancee who decided enough was enough and dumped him for someone who could actually love her and not half-ass it.

 

He didn’t even fight in that one though.  So here he was, moving back home, no longer engaged, and currently trying to avoid the love of his life because she didn’t want him either.  So it seemed perfect to grab a scotch before he made his way to the taxi stand and his hotel.

 

“A ginger ale, please.”  He looked up from his dark corner of the bar to see her near the doorway, clearly not seeing him.  She looked perfect, if a bit unwell. It was clear from the way she sloped against the bar she wasn’t particularly in the best mood and she only drank ginger ale if her stomach was upset.  Something about not liking ginger much otherwise.

 

He hesitated, remembering his plan to avoid her, as the bartender gave her her drink.  Still, she was the love of his life, and he ended up losing the battle with himself and moving across the nearly empty bar to the seat besides her.

 

“Of all the bars...” he started, and she snapped her head in his direction clearly startled by his presence.  

 

“Logan?”

 

“Hey, Ace.”


	6. March 6 - Gossip Girl (Chuck/Blair - Post series, reference to season 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you think we would be here now, if it wasn’t for that night at Victrola?”

You got inside through a hole in my defenses   
And how you fit I’ll never understand   
But you got into me, and I got into you   
And now, I wanna do it again   
- **Bowling For Soup “Dance With You”**

“Do you think we would be here now, if it wasn’t for that night at Victrola?”  Chuck looked up from his tablet at his wife. “I mean, do you think we would have recognized what we had together?”

“Of course.”  It was a simple answer, but he believed it.  It had seemed so sudden, going from friends to lovers.  Looking back on it, with what he knew now, he knew it had started much earlier.  When Blair had stopped having so much faith in Nate. After he started being more friends with her then he was with Nate.

Nate was his best friend, his brother for all intents and purposes, but that year Serena was away, Chuck had gotten closer to Blair.  She knew him better than anyone, had known him that well back then. They fit. He didn’t quite understand the why of the matter, but he wasn’t going to question it.

Somehow, he and Blair would have found their way together.  Maybe later in life, maybe without all the obstacles or maybe with more.  Personally he hadn’t minded the way they had started, even if it led to heartache over the years.  It had felt like coming home, something he wouldn’t figure out till many years later. 

Blair was home and would always be.


	7. March 7 - Torchwood (Gwen & Jack)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen and Jack mourn together.

_Cause the hardest part is holding on,_  
When everything has come undone.  
Yeah everybody needs someone.  
So when you gonna come lift me up?  
- **The Summer Set “Don’t Let Me Go”**

“Gwen.”  SHe didn’t turn to greet him, her eyes remaining on the gravesite in front of her.  She had cried all her tears already, feeling like a dried out cask now. She wondered how her heart kept beating with a portion of it locked away underground.

She could hear her daughter talking to other well wishers, others who mourned Rhys as much as they did.  Jack was probably the only one who truly understood the pain Gwen was now going through. She had lost the love of her life....and found her life would be endless.

She knew if she looked in a mirror she wouldn’t look a day over 40, but she was nearly eighty.  Her daughter laughed it off as good genes and skincare but as Rhys got sicker, they both began to realise that Gwen had spent just a bit too much time near the rift.

She was cursed, same as Jack.  The man in question settled into the folding chair to her right, remaining silent for a moment.  She could feel his eyes on her, always had. She had always had a connection with him, her almost lover.

“He was a good man,”  Jack said finally, looking at Rhys’ final resting spot. 

“He was.”

“He had a good life with you, with Anwen.”

“Doesn’t make this feel any better.”

“It never does, but its something.”

“How...how do you go through this over and over again.”

“Because I have no choice,” and she could hear the sorrow in his voice.  She innerwardly grimaced, knowing the stories he had told her. She knew more of him then perhaps any soul still living (or yet to live...time travel was such a headache).  She knew that he had more then once tried to end things.

He reached over and grabbed her hand.  “You have me, and you have Anwen.”

“Not for long.”

“You don’t know that.  She could be like you.”  She doubted it. Perhaps if she had been Jack’s child, but no.  And Gwen didn’t wish that she was. 

“I miss him.”

“That won’t change.  But it will get easier to miss him and go on with life.”  She looked up at him then, knowing that the ghosts of his past were no doubt going through his mind.  Some the same as hers.

Owen.  Tosh. Suzie.  Ianto.

They had outlived them all, and she knew there were many others that Jack had to bury.  She held her hand open and he took it. The two of them remained seated, saying their last goodbyes to Rhys, and to the many other ghosts that followed them forward.


	8. March 8 - Riverdale (FP/Alice season 1, slight references to season 3 backstory)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If he had regrets, that was his fault.

I'll never grow old with you

And laugh at what we used to do

I guess I ended things before I began

This wasn't my plan

- **Bronnie “Danced With The Devil”**

 

As FP drove away from the school, he couldn’t keep himself from thinking about Alice. She had been the love of his life at one point, and he could still see the girl he knew in the woman she had become, even if for all intents and purposes she had doused and burned that version of her.

 

He hadn’t been truly sure what had made their relationship end, it had seemed to just disintegrate after the whole Gargoyle party.  Suddenly the girl he had started to plan a forever with was nowhere to be found. Not with him anyway. She had stopped talking to them all, even Hermione who had been the closest she had to a confident.  She had started dating Hal Cooper, disappeared for a semester away and came back Senior year a completely different person.

 

He was fairly sure that it was most likely his fault their relationship had ended.  She had made it known earlier she wouldn’t have minded getting serious, but he hadn’t wanted to.  Had took his time and when he finally decided he wanted all that, she was gone.

 

It didn’t make him feel any better seeing her look unhappy with Hal.  He thought it would, knowing she left him for Hal. And he wanted to smack himself for bringing up homecoming.  The look on his son’s face, on Betty’s made him regret it. He couldn’t put those two kids in between the mess that was his relationship with Alice.  

 

Although he did have to admit that sometimes Jug and Betty did remind him of him and Alice.  Smarter though, they were already ahead of the game then what he and Alice had.

 

If he felt regret for everything, it was his own fault. 


	9. March 8 - Doctor Who (Rose/Doctor (10))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor's thoughts at the end of Season 2's Doomsday (AKA Sokorra messed up and did two drabbles for the same prompt again).

_ I'll never grow old with you _

_ And laugh at what we used to do _

_ I guess I ended things before I began _

_ This wasn't my plan _

**-Bronnie “Danced With The Devil”**

 

He hadn’t planned for Rose to mean so much to him.  Or for him to mean so much to her. He had just been so lonely and having a companion on his travels had always been better then going on alone.  And without him noticing she had snuck her way into his hearts. As he watched her across the beach, knowing this was the last moments he would ever see her,  _ this _   her, he felt them break.

She was crying, and he could barely hold back his own. She had become everything to him, and if he thought it would help, he would burn a thousand suns.  But he knew it wouldn’t, it would just destroy more and he knew she wouldn’t want that.

He couldn’t even touch her,  he might see her, might see the beach, but if he reached out, it would only be cold metal he touched.  She would just find air where he stood, and he wasn’t sure what was worse.

He should have had her stay in the Tardis. Made up some task that would have kept her out of the room, and away from the break in the universes that caused her to be stuck so far away from him.

He couldn’t even finish the words as the connection left, and he was left alone in the Tardis.  He knew he had lost the battle with tears, and the words he had meant to say almost felt like they were choking him.  He wouldn’t be able to grow old with her. He had always known that he would outlive her, but he hadn’t expected that it would be cut off so soon.  He had started thinking of her growing old with him, and in this form. He could have aged along with her, lived a whole life with her.

_ Rose Tyler, I love you. _

Now he never would.


	10. March 9 - Gossip Girl (Chuck/Blair)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bass Family fluff

_ Concrete handprints on the ground, _

_ Hard to believe they're so much smaller than ours now _

_ Sat in my dad's old Cadillac _

_ Remembering the first time I heard Fleetwood Mac _

**-Artist vs Poet “Everything Must Go”**

 

“And this, Henry, is where Daddy finally caught on and realised how wonderful your Mama was.” Chuck smiled down at his infant son who gargled around his bottle as his father fed him while sitting on the VIP couch in Victrola. At Six months old, he probably wasn’t even concerned with his surroundings. All he knew was that Daddy was there, food was there, and all was right in the world.

 

Chuck was pretty sure that if he told his son about this years down the wall, it would have been called TMI and his son would try his best to get out of the conversation. Right now however, his son was a captive audience and had no long term memory.

 

“You already know this, but your mom is pretty awesome. She was even then, even though she is more so now. She stood on that stage over there and changed my world.”

 

“Can’t say that wasn’t my intention.”

“You meant to seduce me?” He asked as he looked up at his wife who had finally arrived from her meeting downtown. She looked beautiful, though she still fritted about the small amount of pudge that still lingered after giving birth.

 

“Well, no so much,” she admitted, settling down next to him and smiling down at their son. He recognised the look on her face, it was the same he had when he looked at Henry too. Love, joy and surprise they even got to have this happy ending. “I was angry, and felt unpretty. I felt rejected by Nate, and I can’t say having you look at me like you wanted to devour me wasn’t flattering.” Her mouth tipped up in a smirk. “Now in the limo, that was intentional.”

 

“I hope so.” 

 

“Seems so long ago, doesn’t it,” she asked looking at the stage. “We were just kids back then.” He had to agree with her. Even though eight years didn’t seem like much, their lives had gone through so much in that time. He wasn’t like the boy who stood watching in awe and she wasn’t still the girl who had danced before him.

 

Holding Henry reminded him of another consequence of that night. His life had been turned inside out, and he had fallen suddenly for his best friend after Nate. But there had been a chance that Henry could have been the second child if it hadn’t been a scare.

 

They could have been parents that night so long ago. As much as he loved his son, he knew that he wouldn’t have been ready for him at 17. He would have loved that child with everything he had, he knew that. But he was grateful that he had been given a reprieve, time to grow into the man who could be a good father. A good husband to the mother of his child.

 

He pulled Blair closer and the two watched silently as the crew worked around them before opening, their son held between them.

 


	11. March 10- Smash (Derek; Derek/Ivy minor)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek's Ex-wife gives him some blunt talk

_ But I don't seem to know a single fucking thing  _

_ That can save me _

_ I'm my own worst enemy _

_ Is there any hope for me? _

**-As It Is “Can’t Save Myself”**

 

Her words hit him a shot of cold water.  There was something so final about the way she said it, and the look on her face told him he better not follow her and try and figure out why.  He was on his own for this bit. He turned in his chair back to his whiskey and threw it back in one go before leaving money to cover his tab and walking out.

 

He wanted to get raving drunk, but not there.  He knew a little bar out of the way and closer to where he lived where he could drink without being judged.  Without it getting back to Eileen or any one else he didn’t want to know. However as he entered the bar, he knew instantly he wasn’t going to get his wish.

 

There sitting at a table near the bar, a sketchbook at the ready was his ex-wife.  The only one of his ex-wives that was amicable at all, so even though he resented her presence when he wanted to wallow, he walked over to her table.

 

“Trisha.”  She looked surprised, then a look of resignation passed over her face.  She probably had hopped to find no one she knew as well.

 

“Derek.  What brings you here.”  And for some reason, he found himself spilling his guts to her, telling her everything. The lawsuits.  Karen and their ill timed (and as it turns out over thought) romance. Ivy and her cool words that had him searching for the bottom of a bottle so he could erase them. Probably made her regret asking. When he finished he found he couldn’t quite understand the look on her face.  Or the laughter.

 

“What’s funny?”

 

“It's not so much ha-ha funny, Derek, as tragic funny.  You are always your worst enemy. You want to solve this?  Look at yourself and  _ change _ .  Want her to fall in love with you again?  Don’t give me that look, it's clear as day that you are in love with Ivy”  Trisha sighed. “I don’t know if you have a chance with her, not after all you did.  But you really need to do some soul searching.” She shook her head. “I love you Derek, you know that.”  He did, even if it wasn’t the love that would have made their marriage viable. It was the same for him. “But I can’t help you here.  You need to fight your demons now. If you ever want to right what you’ve done wrong, you need to actually accept what you did wrong.”

 


	12. March 11- Pick a Fandom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pick a Fandom

_ First comes heavy breathing _

_ Staring at the ceiling _

_ What will happen next _

_ I don't want to know _

**-New Found Glory “I Don’t Wanna Know”**

 

He couldn’t fall asleep.  He lay staring at the ceiling of his room, allowing the breeze off the bay cool his skin, not looking at her. He was almost afraid to.  Afraid he turned to look at her and it would all be a dream. That she was still gone, and not a foot away catching her own breath.

 

However, he could only last so long and finally gave into the urge.  He rolled on his side and looked over her, finding her lightly snoosing beside him.  He could tell it wasn’t a true sleep, just drifting into a deep relaxation that came from their previous activities.  He reached out and lightly touched her shoulder, surprised when she shifted to be closer to him, her eyes fluttering open to look at him.

 

“Hi,” she said with a smirk.  He could help but return it. “You okay there?”

 

“Not sure I can be better at this point.”  She laughed, and for once it reached her eyes.  

 

“I am sure we can try.”

 

“What about after?”  He hated asking, hated the fear he had that this was just temporary.  He had loved her for so long and to have her again only to lose her would destroy him.

 

“It will be after,” she said with a soft voice, reaching up to run a finger across his jaw.  “And we will deal with that together.”

 

“You aren’t going to disappear.”

 

“I told you I was all in.”  She frowned. “I meant it. You don’t believe me.”

 

“I’m afraid to,’ he admitted, looking away.  “I’m afraid I’m getting all I ever wanted, and its going to shatter momentarily.”

 

“Look at me.”  He did so, surprised at the hard tone to her voice.  “I am all in, wherever you want this to go.”

 

“So if I asked you to marry me.”

 

“I’d say yes.”  She held her head up with one arm, and leaned into him.  “You are my everything too, you know.”

 

He hadn’t, but it helped relieve some of the fear.


	13. March 12 - Riverdale (FP/Alice)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FP & Alice fluff in a vague -"I haven't watched season 3 but I followed the spoilers" way. Actually, just call it AU. Minor Jughead/Betty

_ Start to see this, everyone I know cannot believe this. _

_ I'm trying to hold on to the sweetest feeling, _

_ So I'll never let you go, don't you leave me lonely now. _

**-Rixton “Hotel Ceiling”**

  
  


The fan circulates the air in the room, barely combating the heat that had settled onto Riverdale as the summer began in full force. It was just about heavy enough to turn on the AC, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up and turn it on. Not when for the first time in months he had her in his arms.

 

It was odd, this new normal they had gotten. He had lost so much over the years, mostly of his own decisions.  One of them was her. He had lost her over and over again, and he was determined that this time he wouldn’t lose her again.

 

He moved some of her hair out of her face.  She was sleeping soundly, exhausted after the last few months.  Dealing with the fall out of the cult, her husband, and trying to repair the broken relationship with her daughter had been draining.  Today they closed the case on the investigation, Hal’s remains and belongs had been given to Alice to do as she pleased. He had been surprised when she had given him a somewhat nice burial.  

 

“He’s the father of my children,” she answered.  “He was a psychotic murderer and a sorry husband, but this isn’t for him.  This is for Polly, and Betty.”

 

Polly hadn’t come home, still unforgiving of her mother, but Alice and Betty had repaired their relationship enough that Betty had moved back in.  Another oddity of their new normal. This house used to be Alice and Hal’s. Now he owned it, abit because of his now ex-wife. Down the hall his two children slept soundly, and for the time at least perfectly safe.  And though it was odd to think about, he knew his son was holding Betty much like FP was currently holding Alice.

 

“Sleep,” she murmured, curling more into him, and opening one eye to look up at him.  He had to smile, for once they had no hurry to leave each other. She was holding onto him just as tightly.

 

“I will,” he promised.


	14. March 13 - Andromeda (Dylan/Sarah)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new fandom for me: Andromeda. After Dylan says goodbye to Sarah, he has time to think.

_ Here comes the rain again _

_ Falling from the stars _

_ Drenched in my pain again _

_ Becoming who we are _

**-Green Day “Wake Me Up When September Ends”**

 

It hurt worse this time for its finality.  He had always known he was parted from her, that she wasn’t going to just appear like she had taken a vacation.  Yet having that brief moment of seeing her again, of being able to touch her and tell her he loved her had given him hope.

 

And now he had to deal with the fallout of that hope. He had lost her again, and this time there was even less of a chance that he would see her again.  That they would get the happily ever after they had planned. His mind went over the what ifs, tried to imagine what their life would have been like.

 

He could hear his friend’s voice telling him to stop being so masochistic. Which was a pain all of its own.  Gaheris was sitting in a containment on his ship, death had its own finality. There was no hope to see him again, and even if he did somehow go back in time again and saw his best friend - could he deal with the betrayal he knew was coming?

 

The loss of the two most important people in his life weighed heavily on him as he watched as Andromeda moved further from the black hole.  The pain something he hoped he got used to.


	15. March 14- Gossip Girl (Chuck/Blair)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck and Blair moment during Serena's wedding

_ Let me be your slow song _

_ Let me be your fast _

_ The thought rolling off your tongue _

_ Your pocket full of cash _

_ The dream when you sleep  _

_ Let me be, let me be _

**-Escape The Fate “Let Me Be**

  
  


She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head against her husband’s shoulder as he lead them around the dance floor.  She felt utterly content for once, a feeling she had once wondered if she would ever feel. She opened her eyes briefly, glancing over at where her son played to the side with his grandparents, who were utterly enthralled with her little boy.

 

She remembered when she was young, she had dreamed her future.  She had a plan. Oddly enough every aspect of that plan had fallen through.  She had not married Nate, she had not gone to Yale. She had not become part of some socialite society.  Yet here she was, perfectly happy with how things had ended up. A new dream perhaps, except it was real. 

 

“What are you thinking about.”  her husband asked her,moving his head to look down at her.

 

“Just how happy we all are.”  And they were. Across the room her best friend danced with her new husband, beautiful and happy.  In another part of the room Nate held court with a few of the guests, his future bright. And despite the loss of her father the year before, even though she was pretty happy.  Her son was healthy and happy, her second pregnancy was going well, and she had her husband in her arms.

 

“Are you?”

 

She straightened up, looking him in the eye.  Her husband was her partner, and she is. It was better than anything she had once planned with Nate.  He knew her better than anyone.

 

“Of course I am.  I have my dream job, a beautiful home and family.  I have you.” She smiled softly. “You’re my everything, you know that right?”

 

“Of course,” he answered with his trademark arrogant tone, but she knew he appreciated her saying that.  For all his arrogance externally, Chuck still had a sense of insecurity that she hoped to eventually rid him of.  “And you’re my Queen.” She smiled at the often stated comment. Chuck leaned his forehead against hers, and the two of them swayed slightly the music playing.  

 

A perfect moment of serenity.


	16. March 15 - Pick a Fandom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pick a fandom

_ What a night it is, when you live like this _

_ And you're coming up beneath the clouds, _

_ Don't let me down _

_ All the love's still there _

_ I just don't know what to do with it now _

**-Mayday Parade “Stay”**

 

He wasn’t sure what to do.  He wanted to tell her he still loved her, but he wasn’t sure she understood.  She knew he loved her, but he wasn’t sure she knew he was still  _ in _ love with her.  That he still felt that draw to her that outshined everyone else.  He wasn’t even sure she was ready to hear that. Or handle what that could mean.

 

But that left him at a loss. Where was the line between being there as her friend, and being there as a man in love with her?  How did he keep her from knowing? He didn’t want her pity, or to get the conversation about how she is just not ready. He knew that already.  He knew that she might never feel the same away as he did.

 

He could be happy if she was happy.  If he knew there was someone who loved her like he did.  It was very easy to love her, not as easy to get within her walls and find the truly amazing woman she was.  He knew a few that knew who she was. Most of him was genuinely happy to know that. Jealousy crept in once or twice, but he beat it back easily.

 

Here she was, laying on his couch asleep having cried herself to sleep.  Weighed down the guilt and fear she had for things she had no responsibility for.  He wasn’t sure how to get her to realise that either. All he knew was to be there for her, to support her and hope she would let him do it.


	17. March 16 - Enterprise (Erika & Trip)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erika meets up with a familar face. Post Series with some spoilers for the books. Minor Jon/Erika and Trip/T'Pol mentioned)

_ So here's another day _ _   
_ _ I'll spend away from you _ _   
_ _ Another night I'm on another broken avenue _ _   
_ _ My bag is ripped and worn _ _   
_ _ Then again now so am I _ _   
_ __ Take what you want to take   
- **Marianas Trench “Cross My Heart”**

Erika couldn’t help but look him over, noting all the new scars on his skin, the drained look on his face.  Trip Tucker looked Romulan...or at least as Romulan as the Vulcans would tell them, but she could still read the exhaustion and pain in him.

The war had taken its toll on them all.  She barely saw her husband outside a screen, and she knew it must be worse for Tucker, who's love wouldn’t be able to talk to him at all.  For Erika was some of the few granted access to the fact he was alive. That he was working as a spy for the newly established Federation. Tucker had believed in the Federation enough to give up contact with the woman he loved, the family he choose as well as was born into.  HIs sense of identity.

As he passed her the packet full of information, she managed to squeeze his hand, a small effort to show him some connection to his past.  He gave her a small smile, one not reaching his eyes, before leaving as silently as he arrived.

She wondered if she would be able to keep her word and not tell a soul about this.  Her heart told her to tell Jon, to tell the others, but she knew that it was not the time.

Tucker had to remain dead, for now. 


	18. March 17 - Gossip Girl (Chuck/Blair AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck goes to apologise to Blair after his harsh words. Slightly AU of Season 1.

_ Up the stairs to her apartment _

_ She is balled up on the couch _

_ Her mom and dad went down to Charlotte _

_ They're not home to find us out _

**-Ben Folds “Brick”**

 

Dorota met him at the door, taking his jacket though her disapproval was evident.  Still, she allowed him to pass and led him upstairs to where Blair had sequestered herself.  He wasn’t sure he would be welcome, but he had to try. Had to apologise for what he had said.  He had been so angry at the time. Both at her rejection and how blaise she seemed to be about their relationship as a whole.

He knew he had gone too far when he sent that message.  It had ruined things for her, and it had come back to hit him too.  Nate was no longer speaking to either of them, and he knew she would no doubt be hurting because of that as well.

He didn’t need to salt the wounds with the cruel words that had come out of his mouth.  She had meant more to him then that, even when she had just been a friend. And for once in his life he realised he owed her an apology.

The door was not completely closed and he opened it slowly.  Dorota had kept the house in top shape so the door hinge made no sound as he opened it slowly.  Blair was curled up on her bed. She looked like she had been crying, and the guilt swirled in his gut. 

He had made her cry.  And he couldn’t even say he didn’t mean to.  He wanted to hurt her, make her hurt like he did when she had rejected him,  made their whole relationship seem like it didn’t matter at all. Lashed out when she finally came around to acknowledge that he had won.

Twenty four hours ago, they had been maybe parents. He had mixed feelings on that, both then and now.  Part of him had been terrified. Terrified of being a parent, of his father’s reaction. Terrified of losing Blair like he had lost his mother. ANother part of him had, well not liked the idea but had found it not as unappealing as it could of been.

That still confused him.  He had no desire to be a father at 16.  Well, 17 he supposed. His birthday was in a few weeks.  But the idea of him and Blair forever connected sounded...nice.  And when she had told him it was just a scare he had been both relieved and disappointed.  

“Go away, Chuck.”  He must have been there staring at her too long, because she had turned over and spotted him.  He ignored her, closing the door behind him.

“I’m sorry.”  She blinked.

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”  The second time had a bit of irritation that she would act so surprised.

“For what exactly?”

“What I said earlier.” He paused. “For what I did.”

“Are you really sorry or just sorry it reflected back on you?”

“Truly sorry.”  If it had been any other person that might not have been true.  But he loved Blair. Not that he would ever tell her that.


	19. March 18 Game of Thrones (Gendry/Arya)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry talks with his son about love.

_ I said girl can I tell you a wonderful thing? _

_ "I made you a present with paper and string _

_ Open with care now, I'm asking you please _

_ You know that I love you will you marry me?" _

_ Now son I'm only telling you this because life can do terrible things _

_ You'll learn one day, and I hope and I pray that God shows you differently. _

**-Mayday Parade “Terrible Things”**

 

"How did you know Mom was the one?"  Gendry looked up from his desk at his son, who stood next to the wide window looking out onto the Castle grounds.

 

"Think you have found someone?"  He asked curious. His son had never seemed much interested in tales of his parents youth.  That had been more his siblings desire. Robb has always been more like his mother in that way.  He liked reading histories and war stories, but the lighter and more romantic aspects he avoided.  

 

"I...don't know."  Gendry let that set for a moment, laying his quill back in its jar.  He leaned back in his chair, thinking back on the years with his wife.

 

"I don't actually know either," Gendry admitted.  "I just knew one day she was all I wanted in this world.  Your mother would be better to ask. She has always been sure of things like that."  Robb glanced at him, but Gendry already knew his son wouldn't ask his mother. Gendry was the romantic of the two.  "Did you remember how I told you we met?"

 

"When grandfather was killed."

 

"We were traveling in the words up to the wall, both hiding from the Crown.  Of course I was a bit more unaware of why I was hiding at the time. I wouldn't learn I was a Barathon till many years later.  At the time I was just Gendry. " He didn't often talk to his children about his time as an unrecognized bastard. It was something that they wouldn't quite understand, having grown up with a legitimized father and Uncle.  

 

"Your mother was hiding out as a boy named Arry.  We clung together out of need. We loved each other even then, but it wasn't the love of fairy tales your Aunt Sansa might read to your cousins.  We were torn apart by our own decisions and those of others, and didn't see each other again for about five years. Long enough to grow up. I became aware of my heritage, your mother grew as a swordsman."   _ As an Assassin  _ he added to himself.   That was Arya's tale to tell. 

 

"One day I was working on some weapons for your Uncle Jon when she wandered into my forge and threw a few daggers into the wall."  He laughed to himself. "Somehow that opened us up to loving one another like we do now. Your mother is my partner in all things, but I had trouble saying that at the start.  I stumbled a bit, and if I could give you any advice it was to know the Lady you love and make that clear. Your mother and I spent years apart because we miscommunicated." The first years of Robb's life, to be exact, though that was another tale.  Robb barely remembered being anywhere but at Storm's End, and Gendry didn’t want to bring up the bad memories he had of that period himself.

 

He hoped his son was luckier in his own proposal.


	20. March 19 Gossip Girl (Chuck/Blair)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blair gets something to remember Chuck by, now that they are over.

_ It's been awhile since I've felt butterflies. _

_ Do you feel the same way too? _

_ If every single second could last that much longer. _

_ Would you hold me? _

**-We Are The In Crowd ft Alex Gaskarth “Kiss Me Again”**

 

It had been an impulse decision, but she found herself not willing to regret it.  Partially because of what it stood for, and partially because it hurt like hell to get.  Serena had been the one who had thought it up, at least the idea of getting tattoos. She went with a tiny dragon along her wrist, but Blair had gone more sentimental. 

 

She had, just below her breasts, a small purple butterfly.  It was located where most likely she would be the only one to see it outside of wearing a bikini.  She didn't need to show it off. It was for her, and maybe in a distant kind of way for him. He would never see it, and she would probably never tell her future lovers what it meant.  He had been her first deep love, and it almost felt better having something visible to see near where her heart was.

 

The purple was for him, the butterfly for the reminder of their start, when she had been too angry and confused to understand what was going on, and he had just been utterly confused about the transition from friends to lovers.  A symbol of the last three years of her life spent loving him. They were over, and she had someone new, but a part of her still remained his.

 

She had the butterflies to prove it.

 


End file.
